Special to WorldTribune.com
Israel is suspending all contact with the European Union on Mideast peace talks over what it called the EU’s discriminatory labeling practices of Israeli exports.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced on Nov. 29 that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered contacts frozen until a “reassessment process is completed.”
The EU announced last month that products exported from Israeli settlements were required to have labels that could not say the goods were made in Israel.
Israel scoffed at the EU’s claim that the labeling was a technical matter, saying it singles out the Jewish state, with some officials saying it amounts to anti-Semitism.
After the EU announced its decision on the labeling issue on Nov. 11, Israel said it would suspend dialogue on certain bilateral political issues.
Some observers say the EU caved under pressure from the growing international boycott movement against Israel.
The EU has insisted it opposes boycotts, and says its labeling decision falls under the auspices of consumer protection. Israeli settlement products, including agricultural goods, olive oil, cosmetics and wines, make up just a tiny percentage of Israeli exports to Europe.
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